7 Benefits & Uses of CBD Oil for Pain and Anxiety
7 minute read
Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a natural remedy that is growing in popularity. It’s derived from the cannabis plants, also known as marijuana. As marijuana has become legally available in states across the country as a natural remedy, CBD in particular has emerged as a powerful and popular healing method, especially since it carries none of “high” associated with other forms of marijuana.
There are a number of reasons why CBD is an effective remedy for various ailments. If you’ve been considering trying CBD, learning more about why or why not it may be a good choice for you is an essential part of the process.
Pain Relief
Unfortunately, pain is an all too common symptom for many Americans, especially those over the age of 40 who might be suffering from stiff joints, achy muscles, and other typical signs of aging that result in pain that can range anywhere from mild to severe.
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CBD has been shown to help reduce pain, as it targets the area of the brain that is responsible for sending pain signals.
Not only does it help reduce the feeling of pain, CBD has been shown to be an effective tool in the fight against inflammation. Often, pain is caused by inflamed joints, muscles, or other tissues, and so keeping this inflammation at bay is a key factor in managing pain.
CBD can help lower your inflammation, which in turn will help you experience less pain when completing day-to-day tasks.
Help With Anxiety
CBD has also been shown to help reduce anxiety and stress. When you get stressed or anxious, your body releases a hormone called cortisol.
| Related: How to Release Stress and Relieve Inflammation |
Cortisol is a powerful hormone that can cause a wide range of negative effects throughout your body. It can make it more difficult for you to sleep, put you in an irritable mood, and even affect your cravings for junk food.
There are many ways to help reduce your stress and anxiety, and research shows that CBD could be an effective method in this regard.
Skin Health
One of the more surprising benefits of CBD is that it has shown signs of being an effective acne treatment. There are a number of reasons why this could be.
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One reason could be the aforementioned stress relief effects of CBD. Stress has long been known to cause skin issues, including acne breakouts, so keeping your stress and cortisol levels at bay is a good start when it comes to maintaining clear, acne-free skin.
Additionally, as we mentioned before, CBD has anti-inflammatory properties. Certain kinds of acne can be caused by inflammation, so this could be another reason why CBD may be an effective method for helping reduce the signs of acne and other skin problems.
Reduced Nausea
When cannabis first entered the scene as a legal medical remedy, one of its earliest uses was in the treatment of cancer-related symptoms, including nausea and vomiting.
CBD has been shown to help reduce feelings of nausea. So if you regularly suffer from nausea or vomiting, CBD could be an effective solution, especially if you have tried antacids or other over-the-counter methods with little to no success.
Cognitive Function
Some research has indicated that CBD could be an effective tool that can help protect your brain against cognitive decline. If you’ve ever walked into a room and then forgotten what you were doing, or if you suffer from the occasional lapse of memory or embarrassing “senior moments,” chances are you’re noticing the effects of “brain fog,” or reduced cognition.
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This can be caused by a variety of reasons, including an imbalanced gut microbiome, poor sleep, or other causes. CBD has shown promise as a potentially great solution for cognitive issues. More research is still needed, but the science so far is very promising.
Supports Heart Health
One of the main ways CBD could help with heart health is by lowering blood pressure. As mentioned before, CBD is an effective stress reliever.
Stress and the hormone associated with it, cortisol, have been associated with increased blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues. It makes sense, therefore, that CBD would function both as a stress reliever and a potential heart health booster.
Addiction Treatment
Because it can help reduce symptoms like nausea and stress, CBD has been put to use in the treatment of addiction relief. Often, when someone is trying to quit a substance they are addicted to, there are extremely uncomfortable and painful symptoms that come along with the withdrawal and detoxification.
That’s because certain addictive substances develop chemical and physical dependencies within your body. When you remove these substances from your system, your body isn’t sure how to react, and it can cause a wide range of negative symptoms.
Some of the worst of these include severe stress and digestive problems, which explains why CBD is an effective treatment for those trying to quit a difficult addiction. CBD also taps into the “pleasure center” of the brain, which can be detrimentally affected by addiction. CBD can help to re-calibrate the pleasure hormones, so addicts can get back on the right track.
The Bottom Line
CBD is certainly a fairly new treatment method, so scientific studies and research need to be continued for us to fully understand its benefits and its full effects. For now, the science behind CBD enjoys quite a bit of promise, as it shows potential for CBD to help alleviate a wide range of negative symptoms.
As this natural remedy becomes more and more well known, it is certain to appear in a variety of forms. Already, CBD can be found in oils, in lotions, soaps, and in edible form. It definitely something to keep an eye on.
